Vineyard Haven, Mass. (CNN) – The foreign policy rift between Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama that played out publicly this week was not enough to ruin the birthday party of a mutual friend.

She may have sharply chastised his foreign policy this week, but all remains well between Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, the former secretary of state insisted, and the two were happy to spend time together, along with 150 other guests, in Martha's Vineyard Wednesday at a party thrown by longtime friend Vernon Jordan for his wife Ann.

Washington (CNN) –- President Barack Obama acknowledged that the Republican proposal on a six week debt ceiling increase was a good thing in an hour-and-a-half meeting with House Republican leadership Thursday night, according to a Democratic source familiar with the gathering.

The meeting overall was an amicable one, featuring some of the first real dialogue between the two sides in recent weeks. The point of contention remains on Obama’s demand to reopen the government, for which Republicans still want concessions on spending, the source said.FULL POST

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) - Vowing to bring his own brand of Lone Star conservatism to Washington, Texas Governor Rick Perry declared his candidacy for president in a raucous speech in South Carolina Saturday.

“It is time to get America working again,” Perry said in the speech, previewing his campaign’s focus on the economy.FULL POST

Louisville, Kentucky (CNN) - Former President Bill Clinton is returning to Kentucky the day before the midterm elections to try and help pry an open Senate seat out of Republican party hands.

The former president will team up on November 1 with Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, the Democrats' Senate nominee, a Conway campaign official confirms to CNN. But the campaign doesn't have details yet on where the event will be held. Clinton headlined a Conway rally in Lexington on October 11.FULL POST

A new poll from the Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University finds a huge disparity when it comes to which voters are motivated to vote in upcoming midterm elections.FULL POST

(CNN) - President Obama enters 2010 facing many of the problems he vowed to confront during his first year, along with a handful of new responsibilities.

The president returns Monday from a Hawaiian vacation intended to provide some down time, but with the Christmas Day terror incident, there was little time for rest and relaxation. While on vacation, the president tacked on an overhaul of the intelligence community to his already-full agenda.

Obama also scheduled a Tuesday meeting with his national security team to discuss how to plug holes in aviation security.

Republicans have blasted the administration's handling of the failed attack, with former Vice President Dick Cheney accusing the president of pretending the nation is not at war.

White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, however, all but called Cheney a liar.

"Either the vice president is willfully mischaracterizing this president's position, both in terms of language he uses and the actions he's taken, or he's ignorant of the facts," he said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."Full story

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-North Dakota, says there are big concerns over talk about a second stimulus package.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Some Democrats are increasingly concerned about President Obama's $787 billion financial fix for the ailing economy, and are demanding greater transparency on further spending.

With the White House seemingly comparing the nation's economy to a house on fire, some congressional Democrats are asking, where's the fire truck?

One New Hampshire congresswoman said as much to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Capitol Hill recently.

"I said, hurry, please hurry, because people are waiting and they are hurting, and they need the help now," Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-New Hampshire, said.

She's one of a growing number of nervous Democrats on edge or at odds with some of the Obama's administration's plans on the economy. Some are taking aim at the president's budget proposals that would curb popular tax deductions for wealthier Americans.

"I don't think ultimately the criticism is surprising. That certainly happens and is all part of the process," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.